Donald Trump cancels state visit to Denmark over Greenland spat

World Today

More trouble is brewing over Greenland between U.S. President Donald Trump and the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

Trump expressed interest in buying Greenland and cancelled a state visit to Denmark after Frederiksen ridiculed idea.

Trump called the comment “nasty.” CGTN’s Gerald Tan has more.

After days of suggesting he wanted to buy Greenland, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted a photo, promising not a Trump Tower on the autonomous region of Denmark.

The Danish Prime Minister called the idea “absurd.”

“A discussion has however been raised about a potential sale of Greenland. This has clearly been rejected by Greenland’s Premier Kim Kielsen a position that I share, of course,” she added.

In response, Trump abruptly called off a state visit to Denmark planned for September.

“Greenland was just an idea. Just a thought. But I think when they say it was ‘absurd’ and it was said in a very nasty, very sarcastic way, I said we’ll make it some other time,” he said.

Greenland is the world’s largest island that’s not a continent. Covering over 2.1 million square kilometers between the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans, it’s rich in resources and is on the direct route between the United States and Europe.

Trump isn’t the first U.S. President interested in purchasing Greenland. In 1946, Harry S Truman offered to buy it for $100 million in gold.

But the current spat has shocked the Scandinavian nation. Trump’s cancellation is being seen as a rare diplomatic snub to Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, who issued the invitation.

The Royal House said they were caught by surprise.